


Monster

by 420_im_lonely



Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Angels, Angst, Beef is gay panicking in the background, Demons, Etho has demon wings, Etho has the wrong idea of Grian, Etho is a scaredy boi, Gen, Grian has the wrong idea of Etho, M/M, Monsters, Pain, Set in season 7 but we ignore that fact that Grian joined in season 6, Trauma, ahhhh problems, alot of violence, and a scary boi, and blood, everyone else has elytra but the wings are better, grian has angel wings, slightly homocidal Beef, very homocidal Grian
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:00:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27673040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/420_im_lonely/pseuds/420_im_lonely
Summary: Creatures like these where rare, but they where dangerous. They stayed hidden, plotting evil deeds and wreaking havoc from the shadows. They were evil, pure evil. And were to be killed without a second thought. Etho was one of those Monsters, he had hidden it well, for his own survival, and he wasnt evil, he wasnt evil just because he was from the nether. But the newest addition to the Hermitcraft group was sneaky. Grian, a human hand picked yo be trained by the angels to hunt the monsters. No one saw, and if he said anything he would be killed. But those caramal wings where not made, they were bluit and betosed to Grian from the Angels themselves.Etho has more hidden parts that anyone would have thought. In short, hes terrifying, but cant they see? Hes terrified too. Etho has been hunted all his life, he thought he was safe, what a fool.
Relationships: Etho/Daniel M. | VintageBeef
Comments: 10
Kudos: 41





	1. Arrival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, I absolutely adore Etho and Grian so I'm writing this! It's a 3 am inspired fic and the chapters may be a hit short at first, but I aim to have 750-1000 words per chapter, idk how many chapters tho.

\--Etho--

Etho tried to calm himself. His legs wavered slightly as Xisuma introduced the newest hermit.

His name was Grian, a short, hyper ball of energy. He was a rarity to anyone who had seen him. A rarity in that he had wings. The tell-tale sign of angels. Grians wings where a caramel color, they matched his hair, the feathers were smoothed and clean, and on his hip, an angelic bag rested. He had been hand picked and trained by the angels to fight, to hunt. His prize was the wings. 

Etho tried to keep his composure. Knowing that no one had seen through his disguise in 5 years was comforting but heartbreaking too, the hatred from his friends would be so much stronger knowing that he had lied to them all this time. His wings twitched behind him, they yearned to be let out of the uncomfortable limbo he had contained them too, the magic keeping them unseen to the naked eye, and not intractable to anything living.

Beef rested his arm on Ethos shoulder, providing a grounding support as he tried his best to subtly calm the normally stoic hermit. Etho had never been so thankful for his messy hair and mask, they hid his face almost completely, letting him look absolutely terrified and go unnoticed. 

Grian bounced on his feet, eager to get to know everyone, Etho watched closely as the other pestered him with questions. 

"How did you get your wings?" Mumbo had taken kindly to Grian, he stood and admired the sleek, powerful wings. 

"Oh! I was handpicked by the angels! They trained me and i got these," his voiced died off at the end and he ran a hand over the mighty wings. 

"What was the training like?" False bounded over, feeling the wings carefully. Grian grimaced slightly.

"Alot of battle, they didnt let us take prisoners, and they taught extensive hunting and tracking, oh! and seeing through magic." Etho felt his stomach twist, could he see him real form already? did he already know? "That reminds me!" Grain opened his bag, from what Etho could see, it was inky black like the void on the inside, Grain pulled some weird cloth things out, they where large, "For such a gracious invitation, it is only fair i attempt to repay you, these are eltyra." Grian handed a few to the hermits and pulled more out his bag, "They come from end cities, wrapped with shulker magic, they'll let you fly," He explained smoothly, Beef held both eltryas for him and Etho, False was exictedly trying to out hers on, Grain helped her. 

As the hermits pestered Grain about flying, Etho decided it was time to go back home, he couldnt be around Grian, the feeling of angel magic was so strong, Etho wanted nothing to do with him, he could feel the magic everywhere, like a parasite on the server, it was good for the other hermits, but not him. 

"Are you okay?" Beef whispered to him, Etho nodded hesitantly, Beef brushed his hair aside, "You look like youre about to collapse, are you sick?" 

"M'fine." Beef pressed the back of his hand to Etho's head, a very concerned look grew on his face. 

"Youre burning up! Youre sick. Im taking you home." Etho nodded slowly, he had fallen from mindless panic to shock, maybe he could leave? Go back to the unclaimed nether? "X, im taking Etho back, hes not looking good." Etho couldnt look away from those strong wings, and the terror they brought for him. everything swam before him, colors mixing in ways they shouldnt, everything was muffled, everything was muted, he barely noticed when his head crashed down against the hard stone path. 

\--Xisuma--  
"X, im taking Etho back, hes not looking good." Xisuma nodded taking a glance at the white haired hermit who was swaying slightly on his feet, he looked run down and dehydrated. 

"Yeah hes looking rea-" there was a crash and Etho collapsed onto the road, he curled in on himself. Xisuma ran to his side, beef was closely behind him. 

Xisuma carefully lifted his friend off the ground, as he turned him over to Beef, Xisuma carefully tried to see what was wrong.

Xisuma sighed, "well he really knows how to make an impression, hes over worked and dehydrated." 

Beef nodded, scouping up the unconscious Etho, "Guess I'll go make sure he doesnt die, and maybe even get him to sleep." Xisuma nodded as the pair left, everyone was surprised and a little worried, but Xisuma saw the slight anger hidden in Grians worried look. There was something wrong, but Xisuma couldn't quite figure it out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unedited, I'll do that soon tho.


	2. Panic, again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW- Etho panicking, Grian being scary, spur of the moment Etho-thinking-hes-gonna-be-dragged-back-to-his-personal-hell-and-hes-gotta-tell-someone-or-it-wil-be-worse-but-he-has-no-clue-what-to-do, angelic trauma.

"Come on Etho, please?" Startling Etho had always been a favorite pastime of Beef, but lately its was taking much longer for Etho to calm down. This time Beef didn't even mean to scare him. He had just walked up behind and picked up the smaller male and now Beef and TFC were standing worriedly off to the side as Xisuma tried to coax a panicking Etho out of the pile of chests he had somehow weaseled himself into. 

"Um? Am I interrupting something?" Grian landed with a powerful beat of his wings and there was the unmistakable sound of chests being moved as Etho wiggled back further inside the pile of wooden boxes. Xisuma signed and sat back on his knees. 

"Beef spooked Etho and now hes hiding for some reason, we cant get him out." Xisuma knew the reason, it had something to do with Grian. These panic attacks had long since passed but as soon as Grian showed up they became a daily thing. Beef had messaged him a few times in the past week or so for help finding/retrieving Etho. Xisuma didn't know why Etho was afraid of Grian, but he could guess it was something about the angel part, and that just made Xisuma extremely suspicious, what Grian hiding something? Was Etho hiding something? 

Xisuma dismissed the thoughts, there wasn't any evidence of anything so why go around snooping, maybe Etho didn't like flying things.

"Why dont you dig him out? Or chase him out?" Grians axe spun dangerously in his offhand. 

"Hold it bud, we don't want to frighten the poor boy more." Beef almost laughed at TFCs statement, he and Etho where a bit older than the others, they weren't exactly young. 

"Right, sorry, old habits die hard I guess?" The axe was spun and latched back in a blink of an eye, Beef was really wondering just how dangerous the newest hermit was.

Xisuma knew he should probably get Grian away, but he didnt know how, until a very stupid idea struck him, he knew he shouldn’t, but it was getting dark and he didnt want to leave Etho in a pile of boxes during the night. So Xisuma stood up and turned to Grian, he tried to talk lowly so that Etho couldnt hear him. 

“Grian, i dont know why but I think Etho is terrified of you, and i know I shouldn’t but its almost night, can you just walk around the back of the pile and maybe say something? So we can try to scare him out this way?” Grian looked at a bit confused at first and Xisuma swore he saw a hint of pure rage glint in Grians eyes. 

“Yeah of course, i get it,” the smaller smiled cheekily, “i can be quite intimidating.” With a wink, Grian jumped and glided over the pile, he landed soundlessly on the other side, an winked at the trio on the other side. 

“Oh Etho~!” There was a rustling sound and Etho shot out of the pile like he had been set on fire, Grian looked a bit suprise and Xisuma saw the same rage flicker in his eyes and his axe spun in his hand.

Etho had been scooped up by Beef and was now curled up like a small cat in his arms. Grian stayed at a distance. 

“Is he okay?” 

Xisuma looked back at Etho before walking over to Grian, “He should be fine, it just-i swear hes not normally like this, i dont know what’s wrong with him but,” Xisuma smiled weakly at Grian, “Be careful? I’m not sure what’s going to happen with him but I’m sure it will be okay?” 

“I guess hes just got something against the angels?” Grian said it off the cuff but that statement struck his core, thats what he had thought before. Was Etho hiding something? 

“Well ill see you around Grian, i better get going and make sure Ethos not going to disappear into the night again.” 

“Again?”

Xisuma laughed slightly, “Back when he first came here, he acted this this a lot too...” He had found Etho mostly dead before, found him hiding in a snow bank after ‘unknown player had joined the game’. Etho didnt even talk for the first week and a half, he refused all food and potions, afte about a month Etho was finally moving around, it had been a bit weird to the other hermits as whenever they dropped by to see Xisuma there was a chance they’d see a smaller white haired male darting from room to room and burrowing away like a disgruntled fox. At first they all thought he was a mob but he just turned out to be traumatized. 

"I'll get out of your hair now, I've got a few pranks to pull," Grian winked and Xisuma laughed softly. 

"Dont kill anyone," 

Grians eyes glinted again, "no promises"

Beef set Etho down in his monstrosity of a base. The smaller had somehow gotten curled up in his vest and was now looking like a disgruntled hedgehog. There wasnt a bed in sight but there was a questionablely built couch, so Beef just tucked Etho into a small pile of pillows and blankets. 

“I’m gonna go make some cocoa okay? Ill be back in a minute.” Beef was hesitant to leave the white haired male alone, but he couldnt really carry him while he made cocoa, or could he? Better not risk spilling it on Etho. 

Beef clattered around in the kitchen for a few minutes before returning with two mugs of hot cocoa. 

“Beef.” 

“Yeah E?” Beef didnt look up from where he was pulling blankets out of a cabinet. 

“Dont let him take me.” Beef snapped around, what the hell?

“E-“

“Please, i dont wanna go back.” 

“Etho-“

Etho reached out and grabbed Beefs apron like a life line, his eyes were filled with fear. “Please-“

“Etho,” Beef pulled the smaller towards him, wrapping him up in his arms, “Youre okay, youre safe here.”

“I dont wanna go back, but hes gonna make me, hes gonna-“

“Who, E, who?”

“That angel.” Beef was confused, why would the angels have hurt Etho? “They, they took my- they took my horns.” 

He wasnt making any sense, “E? What are you taking about?”

Etho shook his head, he shoved Beef away and landed harshly on the floor, there was a rustling sound and two dark red bat wings rested on ethos back, they flickered in and out of existence, finally ripping through the fabric of his vest and dropping thier heavy bones to the floor. A long tail snapped around wildly. Etho pulled off his head band, two large scars rested right on his hairline, where his horns should have been. 

Beef stumbled back, looking at the creature before him, Etho stared up at him with wide eyes, equally as scared. 

“Etho,” Beef had pressed himself against the wall. “What are you.” 

“Nether kind, I’m from the unclaimed.” Beef didnt want to move, he wanted to stay pressed against the wall, but when he looked at Etho, he still saw his friend, and now he could see the extensive scars all over him, Etho pulled down is mask and that was what really got Beef. Ethos tongue was forked, and his teeth where long and sharp, but where his canines where supposed to be, there wasnt anything. The nether kind had always prized their sharp and dangerous fangs, and Ethos were gone, a few of his other teeth looked like they’d been broken and chipped down so they weren’t sharp. 

“Etho-“ There was a faint knocking from the front of the base and Xisuma’s voice rang out. Etho looked at Beef with wide eyes, he raised his wings and with a single beat and a snap of his tail, he shot into the air. 

“ETHO!” Beef jumped from the wall, reaching out to try and snag Etho from the air, he missed and crashed down onto the beehive floor.

There was a crash and Xisuma ran into the base. He looked around at Beef on the floor. 

"Wheres Etho?" 

"He," Beef couldn't find his words, he was terrified, of and for Etho, "hes a nether kind."


	3. The hunter instincts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW- Etho being a corned animal, anglic trauma for Etho and Grian!

—Grian—

There was a buzz from Grians communicator. He glanced over from his badly done red stone to check, it was from Xisuma. 

[Xisuma] we need your help, you where trained to track right?

[Grian[ Yea, why?

[Xisuma] Etho ran off, we need to find him, now. Meet me at Ethos base if you can.

[Grian] on my way. 

Grain pocketed his communicator and grabbed a few rockets, all his combat gear was in his pack and his axe was clipped to his side, he didnt need anything. He had nothing against Etho, but there was something off about him, Etho used magic and he could tell, but he couldn’t figure out what it was for. His instincts told him that Etho was dangerous, his emotions told him that he should just get rid of Etho and his logic was having a hard time quelling those feelings, there was something so dangerously wrong about Etho. 

His large wings stood out against the dark sky, they where pale blurs and he raced into the jungle, flying to Ethos base, when he landed, Xisuma was standing in a center room, Beef was on the floor, his head between his knees. The floor looked liked a fight had broken out, the couch was flipped back and anything that could be knocked over was. 

“Did...did Etho do this?” Grain looked around the room, it was like a giant blast of wind came from a central spot, it seem to have shot out in a complete circle, it seemed like magic and Grain began to feel uneasy. If Etho used the eltrya and flew, Grian would have to use wind trails to follow him. 

“Yeah, Beef said he took off in the air,” Grain was worried about that. “Can you follow him like that?”

“Yeah, ill make a tracking spell, do you have anything of his that he had with him a lot?” Beef held up a strip of fabric, it was Ethos headband. Grain took it carefully, the fabric was soft and worn, the blue fabric was slightly grey due to use. 

Grian floated it in front of himslef, the fabric glowed slightly purple, it quivered in the air before falling back onto his hand. Grain tied it around his wrist. 

“this will worked like a game of hot and cold, it will glow more the closer i get to him.” 

—Etho—

Ethos wings stretched farther out than any eltrya, they were dark red with bones that almost peaked through the skin. 

His wings flapped in the cold night, stars blurring overhead, Etho was traveling fast, but he had no destination. 

He wasn't paying attention and he caught some branches, tumbling down into a thick forest. There were growls and grumbles all around, mobs staring at him with dead eyes. Etho stood up and shook himself off, he needed to get out, he needed a world jump portal.

Etho scanned the trees around him, there would be nothing out here but he needed a place to hide, so he began to collect whatever he could, logs, dirt. There where zombies all around and he knew he had to move fast, he couldn’t risk getting caught. 

Etho pulled off his vest and shirt, tucking them away in his intventory, he got rid of his sandles. Slowly, under the light of the moon, he stretched out on top of a tree. 

The thick scales bega to push through his skin once more, the covered his torso and legs, most a skin colour but the ones on his back and ribs there red and black. He flexed his hands, the protective scales where flexible there and his retractable claws where a bright red. He let himslef morph back into his form, the dragon like feet and heavy tail, the scales and fangs, his hair still glistened white and the scars of his horns ached, his undamaged eye flickered back to its natural black. 

Soon he was back to his true form, no longer hiding it with exhausting amounts of magic. He could feel everything again, he could fly against, he could run again, no more weird morph, he could be comfortable again. 

Etho sighed as he began to crawl, he could either make his own portal to the nether and waste time, ot he could head off and find someone portal and sneak in, he didnt have a lot of time, he knew Grian would be there somewhere, he had to go now.

He crawled swiftly and silently in the forest, not daring to fly for he might be seen, however he did have a small pack of zombies following him, he would have to lose them at one point. He just needed a portal. 

Etho crawled out of the forest and onto black stone, lots of it, he felt the heat of lava and could hear the sizzling of Magma blocks, he was at rens base. 

Etho blended in beautifully with the nether atmosphere, he crawled rapidly to a large lava lake. He didnt even look around before slipping into the inviting lava, he curled up contently on the bottom of the lava pool. His scales shifting over his nether gils, one could call them, for the first time in a long time, Etho slept. 

—Ren—

Ren rubbed his eyes, he must have been hallucinating. He swore he just saw a very red etho with wings and a tail jump into his lava pit. 

Ren shook his head and opened his communicator. 

[Ren] is there a costume party or something? Am I dreaming?

[Iskall] What do you mean?

[Ren] im like 87% sure i saw Etho in a red bat costume jump into my lava pool at Tatooren but i could just be on drugs. 

[Xisuma] I’m on my way

[Ren] should i be concerned? 

There was nothing for a few seconds

[Xisuma] no

[Ren] those seconds of silence were not reassuring 

A few minutes later, Xisuma, Beef and Grian dropped from the sky, they followed Ren to the lava pool. 

“So how do we check?” Grain pointed at the headband on his wrist it was glowing quite a vibrant purple. 

“Okay, so how do we get in?” Grian popped his netherite ax from its holder and skimmed it over the surface of the lava, Xisuma quickly grabbed the handle. 

“We dont want to kill him.” Grain grimced and flipped it over so he be searching with the blunt side.

He hit something with it. For a few moments no one moved, then there was a shift in the lava and something flew out, above them, etho shot out of the lave, it rolled off his wings like water and he shook it from his hair, wasting not even a second he shot down no passed through Rens nether portal. The head band on Grians wrist stopped glowing abruptly. 

“Was that actually..”

“Yeah, go get anyone you can, we need to catch him,” Grians axe spun by his side, “and keep him alive.” X added looking at Grian, the axe was clipped back into place.

"All right, uh what the hell is going on anyway?"


	4. Far and away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inspo hit me like just like my ex did

Etho bristled as he passed through the portal, he was dropped into the Nether hub, the cold black stone was a stifling difference between his homeland. Etho stood next to the glass, his elf like ears twitching. He balanced his weight and threw himself forward though the glass. He rolled out onto the soft netherrack. 

It was hauntingly empty, only Piglins and hoglins, no demons or Nether Kinds, no strange mutations in the creature roaming. Etho crawled up the netherrack until he was handing from the ceiling, it would be harder to get him this way, and all he needed to do was find a place where the other hermits hadn’t settled, there wasnt any chance he could get to the unclaimed, the hermits had made sure of that with spells and codes, he needed a portal to an unclaimed world, to an unclaimed nether. 

He was tried, but he couldn’t stop, he kept going, he couldn’t fly, the cliffs where too close in this part of the nether.

His claws dug into the netherrack as he climbed, his wings and tail hanging behind him, it was hot in the nether, the air was thick, he liked it. It felt like home. 

Home. His base. Home. It was distorted in his mind now, was home his base or the nether fortress that he and his siblings were raised in? He had fond memories of both, but he remember someone, not to sure who, saying home was where you left a piece of you. Then was the Dungeon of the angels ‘home’? Where he had been tourtured, there he watched his sisters be cut to ribbons? Where he watched his brother slave away until death? Where he lost a piece of himself? Where he lost his family and his horns. Where he had lost a single part of himself, the one thing he thought he had control over, where it was harshly ripped away from him. 

There was nothing this far out in the nether, no hermits had settled here and it was nice, it was quiet. Etho found a cavern, it was so large he couldnt see the other side, the mist filled it, there was a tall pillar in the middle and a deep lava lake beneath him, and the sides where covered in the crimson and wrapped forests. Still there where no demons. 

Etho crawled down the base of the pillar and got to work, he began to make himself a home within the pillar. 

—Grian—

Most of the hermits stood around, all armed and ready, they where told they where tracking a creature, and were to take it alive, but they weren’t told the creature was Etho. They all had gathered at the town hall, standing in front of the portal, Xisuma spoke to them. 

“We are searching the nether, Grian has a tracking spell,” Grian lifted his arm to show the headband, the metal part of it was tucked under the other layers, it looked like a normal piece of cloth. “We are goin in groups and trying to surround it f we can, Doc i want you to take Ren, Mumbo, Stress, Keralis, TFC and Jevin. Ill take False, Welsknight, Iskall, Hypno, Tango, Zedaph, and Impulse. Grian will have Beef, Bdubs, Cleo, Joe, Scar, Cub and Xb. Any questions?”

“Yeah, where’s Etho?” Beef and Xisuma glanced at each other before X answered Wels. 

“I dont want you to worry about it now, just remember, Do. Not. Kill. This. Creature.”

“X, did it take Etho?” 

Xisuma glanced at Doc, “you will all understand once we find it. Are we ready?” 

There was a chorus of yeses and X nodded, he stepped thought the portal. 

—Etho—

Etho wiggleding on the netherrack before pouncing on the strider, his teeth glanced of his leathery hide and he was bucked from its back. He huffed as he waded out of the lava, it was difficult to hunt now, all he’d gotten was a few hoglins he had thwacked with his tail, his teeth had been filed and were of no use and his claws were still growing back. 

He hated pork, but he couldnt kill a strider so it was all he had. He grumbled and sat down in his magma nest, chewing idily on a piece of pork.

Carefully, he began to chip and wear at the netherite, he began to form it into gloves, claws specifically. Off to the side, he had a rough set of fangs made from black stone, he might need more netherite to make his fangs. 

Etho worked for awhile, slowly the claws became real, they where razor sharp and long, they fit perfectly over his bruised hands, the scales slotted with it nicely. He began to work on his fangs. 

It was a long and tedious process, chipping and fitting, carving and sharpening, but after an hour or 4, he and a nice set of fangs, he slipped them into the sensitive gums where his real fangs where missing, with a twist, the barbs secured themselves and the teeth wouldn’t budge. He had fangs. 

It hurt quite a bit though, and etho was to tired to try them out now. So he curled up, his wings laying flat against the warm magma as he let lava fill his tiny pool, the warm heat comforted him, spilling over his back and surrounding him. 

Etho was to tired to sleep though, he was to worried. Grian had found him, the angels had sent him, he wasnt safe. Ethos mind ran wild, thinking about the angels, about their lies. About the heavy shackles they had clamped onto his ankles, about the nails they drove into his wings, holding his bone to the wall. 

Etho shivered, he felt cold despite the boiling hot rock covering his body, he was scared, he had pushed all thoughts of Beef and Doc and Bdubs to the back of his mind, his friends. No doubt they hated him now, no doubt they would kill him on sight. He tucked his head under his arms, his hands resting of the scars of where his horns once sat. He’d rather leave than continue to do this. He was tired, he didnt want to keep fighting this. He wanted to join his family. He wanted to die. 

—Xisuma—

Grians voice crackled in the comms, they where coming up close on etho now, the headband was glowing, Xisuma and his gang were standing at the edge of a lava lake, a tall pillar in the center, they stood in a giant cavern. To their left, they could see Doc and Ren, to the their right, Grian and Beef. The all began to bridge forward, going to that huge pillar. 

The lava boiled next to them, daring them to step off their small paths, it lapped at their bridges and sputtered lazily as they continued across. 

Grian and Xisuma stood side by side, string at he small door in the pillar, Grian grabbed Xisumas arm and whispered softly. 

“X, dont let me hurt him.” 

“What?”

“X, i was trained to hunt and kill theses things, i was trained to destroy them, i wasnt picked, i was stolen, stolen from Evo. He didnt have a choice in this, he traumatized by my teachers, X,” Grian looked him in the eyes, “Dont let me one control, dont let me hurt him.” 

“I wont.” 

Xisuma opened the door slowly, he inched inside, Grian stood behind him. 

In a pool of lava, wings stretched out and eyes closed, Etho laid there. Xisuma glanced at Grian, the axe was out of his holder and his eyes seemed to glow purple, he pushed past Xisuma.


	5. In rage, he acts.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter :(
> 
> Ill write more if you all want, like fluff and sequels if you all want but that wont be written as fast at this was. But it might be better quality.

Grian swung his axe, it thudded down right were Etho head had been a second prior. Etho jumped out of his lava and shot out the door, Grian followed. 

There was a purple tint around Grian as he swung at Etho midair, he two flew around the carvers Etho trying to defend and Grian swinging to kill. Xisuma made the command. 

“Shoot Grian down.”

“What? Arent we here for the monster?”

“that ‘monster’ is Etho and Grians lost control, shoot him down.” 

No one moved for a second and there was a scream of rage as Etho avoided Grans axe once again. Hypno notched and arrow and let it loose, it missed Grians hair by less that an inch. There was another clash and Xisuma saw Etho very clearly take a bite out of Grians axe, the handle cracked. 

Hypno and and few others where firming now, but Grian avoided all the arrows, all until a well aimed arrow matched perfectly in a small window of distraction. Grian swung his axe, it hit the base of ethos wing, severing it cleanly, Grain grinned as etho fell, the axe make carved in his bone, it fell to the netherrack platform below, and that was when the arrow hit, it stuck Grian in the knee, throwing him out off his daze, the purple faded and Grian looked horrified as Etho sunk in the lava. 

Grian landed heavily on his wounded leg, it gave out and he rolled, just as quickly he created t the side, looking for Etho in the molten rock. It was silent. 

Etho coughed as he crawled from the lava, his eyes shut and his remaining wing looking hurt. He collapsed on the ground. 

His eyes opened slightly and he threw himself back wince he saw the other hermits. He pressed himself against the black stone pillar, his open wound bleeding profusely. 

“I’m sorry.”

“Etho-“ beef stepped forward, etho just grabbed the broke axe and sunk back. 

“I’m sorry i didnt want to lie.”

“Etho-“

“I didnt want to be a monster in your eyes!” Etho put the axe beneath the base of his other wing, with a harsh movement he handed the axe forward, there was silence for a second, and then Ethos wing fell, and he looked relieved to feel it go. He stared down at the bloody axe in his hands, his tail twitching behind him. 

“Etho.” Beef kneeled beside him, ethos face was blank, the grey netherite fangs were slightly bloodly. “Etho look at me.” Etho didnt, he just started at the axe in his hands, Beef carefully took it and tossed it to the side, he took off his apron and wrapped it around Ethos wounds, carefully, he picked Etho up, caradlling him to his chest. 

“X, take us home.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have nothing to say for myself....I was gone so long. :( this was rushed and all it takes is like, 1 comment and I'll rewrite this.
> 
> I didnt get what I wanted to do done, life has been hectic but oh well.


End file.
